|
"Teachers know their own students best -
or they should - and no outsider is qualified to
prescribe the course of action to be taken for any
particular student at any particular time. Learning
and teaching are part of a social collaboration that
can never be scripted in advance."
- Frank Smith
Ourselves: Why We Are Who We Are - A
Handbook for Educators
(2006) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
| In this issue |
 |
|
|
| Gary Stager to Keynote 1:1 Conference! |
|
|
Many of you know that I've been
involved in schools with student laptops since I led
professional development activities at the world's
first "laptop schools" in 1990. Never Mind the Laptops: Kids, Computers
and the Transformation of Learning,
by Bob Johnstone, chronicles a bit of
my efforts.
I am extremely honored to be a
keynote speaker at the new Anytime
Anywhere Learning Foundation's First Annual 1:1 Conference, June
21-23, at Northeastern University in Boston. This
world-class conference features workshops, panel
discussions and presentations made by leading
practitioners and scholars. My fellow keynoters
include John Bransford, editor of How People Learn...; Ben
Shneiderman, author of Leonardo's Laptop; Former
Maine Governor Angus King; and Keeping IT Global's
Michael Furdyk. My keynote is entitled
Reclaiming
the Magic and I'll be leading
podcasting and robotics workshops as well .
The Anytime Anywhere Learning
Foundation is a non-profit organization
dedicated to advocating 1:1 computing in education
and disseminating information about best practices.
One of the foundation's primary projects is
collecting data on actual 1:1 computing in American
schools. Please go to the site and share information about your school
or district.
|
| The Worst Book of the Year |
|
You may have read my critical review of Tom Friedman's
book, The World is Flat. Judging by the
email I've received very few people dislike the book
as much as I do. While my review of the book is
critical, I am even tougher on the self-loating
educators who embrace pop business books for
"answers" to educational concerns.
My recently published interviews
with Jonathan Kozol and Dennis Littky share practical
vision by actual educators with a track record of
accomplishment. If you must read a business book, I
suggest:
After spending my hard-earned money
on Friedman's book and taking the time to read it,
the author has released a new version containing
tons of new content sprinkled throughout the book.
Hopefully someone will loan me the new version so
I can suffer through the book again.
|
| Gary Stager - Music Video Director |
|
I once studied to be a jazz musician before being
confronted by the limits of my talent. I
derive great joy from my 1,000+ jazz CD collection,
attendance attons of live jazz performances and my
friendship with great jazz musicians.
Brian Lynch, a fantastic trumpet
player and composer, recently invited me to
participate in his groundbreaking all-star recording
project with latin jazz legend and 8-time Grammy
winner, Eddie Palmieri. The new media site,
Artistshare, allows fans to not only purchase
recordings, but participate in the artistic process
by looking in on rehearsals, interacting with the
artists and even taking an online trumpet lesson.
I was thrilled to shoot video during NYC
rehearsals and recording sessions at Tony Bennett's
new state-of-the-art recording studio in New Jersey.
That video will eventually reside on the Artistshare
site for access by members and may be assembled in a
documentary. In the meantime, you may download a
free six
minute video podcast sharing glimpses of the
incredible music made by these great artists. Put it
on your Video iPod or share it with
friends!
The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project combines
the enormous talents of more than a dozen of the
world's greatest musicians. Multiple Grammy Winner
Phil
Woods (classic sax solo on Billy Joel's Just
the Way You Are and Charlie Parker
protegé), Donald Harrison, Conrad Herwig, vocalist Lila
Downs, Giovanni Hidalgo and many others
contributed to the upcoming release.
You may explore the complete Aristshare project here, play the video podcast in your
browser, download the podcast from the web
or watch the file in iTunes. You do
not need an iPod to enjoy this video podcast!
|
| Sign-up for Robotics Workshop at NECC! |
|
|
I'll be leading a unique full-day hands-on robotics
workshop at NECC on July 7th. Robotics Supports Learning Diversity: A
Good Prompt = 1,000 Words
.
The workshop is suited to all skill and grade levels
and will explore how LEGO robotics may be used to
inspire learning opportunities across the curriculum.
|
| He's Done it Again! |
|
As a person who writes about education, Alfie Kohn
makes me crazy because he's so darn good. Often when
I have an idea for an article, I find that Alfie
beat me to the punch and expressed my views better
than I could have myself.Kohn is fearless in the issues he tackles and
his most recent article, The Trouble with Rubrics, will
surely make you think and challenge assumptions.
It's a must read.
|
| What I'm Reading |
|
|
Check out some of the books I'm currently reading.
|
| Upcoming Events |
|
|
Come meet me or participate in a hands-on
workshop at these events over the next six months.
|
| Forget X-Men, Go See An Inconvenient Truth! |
|
I just finished replacing all of the light bulbs in
my home with new energy-efficient flourescent ones
the day after my family saw Al Gore's stunning new documentary,
An Inconvenient Truth. The
film sure helped me understand the threat of global
warming and the overwhelming scientific evidence
providing ample reason for concern. My 18 year-old
daughter plans on bringing all of her friends to see
the film.
Former Vice President Gore has been an
environmental champion and canary in the mineshaft
on climate change for decades. Even after Katrina,
melting ice caps, and other recent environmental
crises, Gore is lampooned by those opposed who have
taken leave of their common sense and decency.
Many of the film's positive reviews describe
Gore's 1,000 PowerPoint presentations made all over
the world. He does not use PowerPoint, but rather
Apple's vastly superior software, Keynote, (as I have for several
years).
I highly recommend that you see An Inconvenient Truth at a
theatre near you. Bring your children, friends,
neighbors and students to see this educational,
entertaining and important film.
|
| Cool Web Links |
|
|
A random collection of things that amuse, inspire
and infurirate me.
|
|
The Critical Friend is a new online newsletter for
21st Century educators published free-of-charge by
Gary Stager.
It offers unique perspectives on important
educational issues, debunks hype and confronts
special interests all with a sense of humor. This
newsletter analyzes trends and challenges the status
quo. Thoughtful educators, parents and
decision-makers will be inspired to rethink their
educational beliefs and practices. The Critical
Friend will blow the whistle on superficial
education journalism and attempts to put the latest
“crisis du jour” into perspective.
Pass this newsletter along to friends and
unsubscribe if you wish not to be bothered in the
future.
|
|
This past November & December I had the great
pleasure of making my 25th or 26th trip to
Melbourne, Australia as a consultant to the Victoria
State Department of Education & Training. I
spent a half-day teaching in a primary school and
half in a secondary school each day in order to
create models of what learning and teaching might
look like in the 21st Century. 20 multiage
hetergeneous students in each school worked with me
for 2-3 hours each day on robotics engineering,
programming and radio production projects. My
primary class contained children from 5-12 years
old. It was so fabulous that I don't think I would
ever teach single-age classes again. Despite the
numerous challenges associated with these
"troubled" schools, the students excelled
and taught me a great deal. |
|
|
|
|
I am honored to be a finalist for a
Distinguished Achievement Award by the
Association of Educational Publishers for the
columns I published in District Administration in 2005.
In mid-May I was a panelist at "Closing
the Achievement Gap in Harlem: A Call to
Action," a symposium hosted by New York City
Public Schools Region 10 & District 5. The panel
discussion focused on mathematics and science
education. Mr. Stager's fellow panelists included
noted NYU education professor Pedro Noguera and
American civil rights hero, Robert Moses, early member of SNCC and Director of SNCC's
Mississippi Project and Freedom Summer - now Director of
the Algebra Project. Meeting an
American hero like Bob Moses is a once-in-a-lifetime
thrill.
I join a world-class cast of
keynotes and leading computer-using educators at the
first annual Anytime Anywhere Learning
Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, June 21-23.
Don't miss out on what will surely be the best
conference of the year!
Marc Prensky and I are keynote
speakers at the NYSCATE Summer Leadership Summit in
Troy, NY on July 18-19.
Many of you and your schools are
swept up in MySpace hysteria. I recently wrote a column trying to put the issue in a
rational perspective. Just as New York City Mayor,
Michael Bloomberg, has launched a war on students and their
cellphones five years after I wrote about similar absurdities.
The more things change, the more they stay the
same...
Might I suggest that you get
yourself a MySpace account and spend some time
learning about it this summer? This way you can make
sense of the changing media landscape and better
relate to your students.
Guess Why They Call it MySpace? (new column)...
|
|
